Mobile phone hoax

The text of the hoax:

Dear all mobile phone's owners,ATTENTION!!! NOW THERE IS A VIRUS ON MOBILE PHONE SYSTEM.. All mobile phone in DIGITAL system can be infected by this virus..If you receive a phone call and your phone display "UNAVAILABLE" on the screen (for most of digital mobile phones with a function to display in-coming call telephone number), DON'T ANSWER THE CALL. END THE CALL IMMEDIATELY!!!BECAUSE IF YOU ANSWER THE CALL, YOUR PHONE WIL L BE INFECTED BY THIS VIRUS.. This virus will erase all IMIE and IMSI information from both your phone and your SIM card which will make your phone unable to connect with the telephone network. You will have to buy a new phone. This information has been confirmed by both Motorolaand Nokia.. For more information, please visit Motorola or Nokia web sites: http://www.mot.com http://www.mot.com > > or http://www.nokia.com > > >.. There are over 3 million mobile phone being infected by this virus in USA now. You can also check this news in CNN web site: http://www.cnn.com http://www.cnn.com http://www.cnn.com > > >.. Please forward this information to all your friends who have digital mobile phones..

Another variant of this hoax reads as follows:

Mobile Phone Virus Warning

If you receive a phone call and your mobile phone displays ACE-? on the screen DON'T ANSWER THIS CALL - END THE CALL IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU ANSWER THE CALL, YOUR PHONE WILL BE INFECTED BY THIS VIRUS. This virus will erase all IMEI and IMSI information from both your phone and your SIM card, which will make your phone unable to connect with the telephone network. You will have to buy a new phone. This information has been confirmed by both Motorola and Nokia. There are over 3 million mobile phones being infected by this virus in USA now. You can also check this news on the CNN web site.

Please forward this piece of information to all your friends.

Another variant of the hoax reads as follows:

All mobile users pay attention if you receive a phone call and your mobile phone displays (XALAN) on the screen don't answer the call, END THE CALL IMMEDIATELY, if you answer the call, your phone will be infected by a virus. This virus will erase all IMEI and IMSI information from both your phone and your SIM card, which will make your phone unable to connect with the telephone network. You will have to buy a new phone. This information has been confirmed by both Motorola and Nokia. There are over 3 Million mobile phones being infected by this virus all around the world now. You can also check this news in the CNN web site.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS PIECE OF INFORMATION TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS HAVING A MOBILE

A French-language version of this hoax reads as follows:

A transmettre.... URGENT
Si vous avez un appel téléphonique sur votre téléphone portable et que "A C E" s'affiche, ne répondez pas, annulez l'appel. C'est un virus qui détruit la carte SIM, et endommage le portable. Ceci a été confirmé par Motorola, Sagem et Nokia...

TRANSMETTEZ CE MESSAGE AUX COLLEGUES S.V.P.

Many virus hoaxes:

• falsely claim to describe an extremely dangerous virus
• use pseudo-technical language to make impressive-sounding (but impossible) claims
• falsely claim that the report was issued or confirmed by a well-known company
• ask you to forward it to all your friends and colleagues

As usual, you are urged not to pass on warnings of this kind, as the continued re-forwarding of these hoaxes simply wastes time and email bandwidth.

It is possible that you may receive a hoax via email with a file attached. Obviously, such file attachments should be treated with caution as they may be virus infected. Sophos recommends deleting virus hoax emails, whether they contain file attachments or not.

Sophos suggests a policy to help prevent hoaxes from spreading in your company.